Samuel Barber
Piano Concerto
Die Natali Op 37
Medea's Meditation and Dance of Vengeance Op 29A
Commando March
Recorded in Royal Concert Hall and Henry Wood Hall, Glasgow, March 2001 and
March 2002
NAXOS American Classics 8.559133
[60'35"]
Stephen Prustman, Piano
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Conducted by Marin Alsop
Samuel Barber (1910-1981) is known as a quintessentially American
composer and this series, under the title American Classics, suggests
that the listener should indeed perceive him in that way. It is
interesting, then, t find that the works recorded here are far more
likely to pin Barber firmly to the mainstream of Western European
cultural heritage than to underline his iconic status as a transatlantic
prophet. Indeed, the Piano Concerto of 1960, the main work on the
programme, was conceived as a traditional concerto for virtuoso soloist
and large orchestra, very much in the grand romantic tradition of the
19th century. That it succeeds is amply demonstrated by this performance
in which Stephen Prustman negotiates the formidable virtuoso challenges
of the solo part with aplomb. It is more surprising that this work
should have won a Pulitzer prize in 1963 and a Music Critics Circle
Award in 1964. Surprising not because of any inadequacies in the
composition, but simply because it is so resolutely outside the gambit
of what was 'contemporary' (read 'trendy' in modern parlance) in those
years. This is a broad sweep of a work in the traditional three
movements, even sticking to the classical mould as far as having a
heavy-weight first movement, seductively lyrical middle and dynamically
brilliant finale goes. One wonders whether such a work would receive any
critic's praise, let alone an award now, when we seem to be so scared of
the weight of traditional thought.
The other major works on this disc are Medea's Meditation and Dance of
Vengeance Op 29A and Die Natali Op 37. Medea's Meditation and Dance of
Vengeance form two movements from Barber's original ballet score Medea
written for the great Martha Graham. Filled with lush orchestration this
receives a glowing performance from the Royal Scottish National
Orchestra with Marin Alsop crafting a carefully balanced performance
weighted perhaps in favour of the rich sound of the RSNO's particularly
fine string sections.
Die Natali was written in the same year as the Piano concerto (1960)
and, as the title suggests, draws on Christmas themes for its material.
These are developed and treated in particularly inventive ways; the
wonderfully oriental wind accompaniment to the section based on "We
three kings of Orient are" being especially riveting. It is all too easy
for Christmas orchestral fantasias to get bogged down in sentimentality,
a charge that can be levelled even at the Vaughan Williams Fantasia on
Christmas Carols and is undeniably the case with that other annual radio
favourite, the Carol Symphony of Victor Healy-Hutchinson. Barber avoids
this trap with meticulous attention to the thematic development,
creating a texture wherein the (well known and easily recognised) themes
are never allowed to dominate the structure. Marin Alsop balances the
forces of the orchestra to achieve the same ends and the result is
brilliantly colourful exercise in both orchestration and thematic
development.
The disc concludes with the short Commando March written in 1943, a
pseudo-Waltonian exercise in Circumstance without having much in the way
of Pomp. More like a soundtrack backing for cinematic military activity,
Barber was evidently quite keen on it, given the various re-workings for
military band, concert band and symphony orchestra. One wonders whether
he would still be, given his country's current belligerent military
stance.
((c) Peter Wells 2002)
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